(SportsRadio 610) - As the combine kicks off in Indianapolis this week, the honeymoon period is over for teams that made new coaching hires this offseason, especially for the Texans.
“He’s been great,” Texans GM Nick Caserio said. “Everything I think that I heard or knew about him beforehand has come to fruition. He is who he is, so I think that’s the one thing you wanna see. The things you experience during an interview process, then you actually see them first hand up close and personal and it kind of matches.
“It’s been great, the honeymoon period is probably over a little bit, now we’ve got some work to do.”
The Texans have a number of roster spots to fill this offseason.
The team entered the offseason with 22 free agents, another big number for a team that has seen a large roster turnover in each of the the last four seasons during their teardown and rebuild process.
Caserio discussed the roster building process Tuesday morning and offered some limited insight into how exactly the Texans plan on attacking the team building process this offseason with the new coaching staff in place.
“We have 50 players on a team, give or take,” Caserio said. “So, we know we’re gonna add 40 players to the team. So, you’ll probably add I don’t know, 15 to 20 in free agency give or take, maybe a little more maybe a little less, probably a little less. Right now we have 11 draft picks, so call it 10 to 12 draft picks and then however many players we sign after free agency.
“Philosophically, DeMeco and I feel the same way, it’s really not about one player, it’s not about one position it’s about building a good team and if you have a good team that gives you the best chance to go out there on Sunday and have some success. So, that’s what our focus is gonna be.”
Of course, Caserio wouldn’t divulge what he and the staff are prioritizing the most in terms of building the roster out, but did shed some light philosophically on how they’re approaching the talent evaluation process relative to the upcoming NFL draft.
“We’re not a round-based team, we’re kind of numerically-based,” Caserio said. “We grade a player for their role, so there’s a role commensurate with their value. So, we try to identify the line of demarcation, drafted, not drafted.”
That line of demarcation Caserio mentioned is in relation to the players they feel are draft worthy, and those that are not.
Identifying players that have value relative to their specific needs and schemes may be vastly different than how other teams view a particular player or players.
That’s an area in which Caserio said he and the staff will spend much of their time leading up to the April draft.
“But, that grouping of players, really between now and probably the draft, that’s where the next two months we’re going to put as much time and resource into that group,” Caserio said.
It’s no surprise that teams take a lot of pride in being able to find talent in the later rounds of the draft and even undrafted players.
“You have to be prepared to pick wherever you’re gonna pick and then be prepared to pick whatever player,” Caserio said. “I’d say most teams, wherever they pick, you probably have three or four guys that you would feel comfortable taking, so if a team is in front of you and your only talking about one player, well, that’s gonna leave two or three other players.
“So, you’re either comfortable with that group of players or you’re not. So again, you can’t really get too caught up into what other teams are doing, just try to make decisions that you feel are best for your team and your situation.”
The possibilities seem almost endless in terms of the teams currently slotted behind the Texans within the first round of the draft and the movement that could ensue.
Caserio said that he and the Texans are well aware of the potential for a lot of movement in this year's draft and that they’ll be prepared for various scenarios.
“We actually had kind of a trade chart simulator where you factor in the points and the costs associated with it,” Caserio said. “Each team has their own sort of model.”
Caserio said the Texans will run through some exercises as they get into April and closer to the draft to prepare for the potential of such scenarios that may present themselves, but now wasn’t the time to concentrate on those things.
Meanwhile, Caserio did say he’s most concerned with maximizing the talent on the roster heading into the new league year, relative to adding talent in the draft or free agency.
The Texans have five picks within the first 73 slots in the upcoming draft.
Regardless of where and how they select, Caserio said the objective is straightforward.
“You would think that you’re going to find good players within those areas, so that’s what the focus is.”
Shaun Bijani has spent the last 16 years covering the Houston sports scene for SportsRadio 610. Follow him on Twitter @ShaunBijani.
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